(AP) – German police fired water cannons at demonstrators in downtown Berlin protesting coronavirus restrictions after saying the crowd refused to listen to their entreaties to wear masks and keep their distance from one another.
As the cannons shot into the crowd outside the landmark Brandenburg Gate on Wednesday, police in riot gear moved through the crowd carrying away some protesters. “We want our lives back,” read one sign carried by protesters.
The protests came as German lawmakers opened debate on a bill that will provide the legal underpinning for the government to issue social distancing rules, require masks in public and close stores and other venues to slow the spread of the virus.
